[Baptism was practised in ancient (Ḥasidic or Essene) Judaism, first
as a means of penitence, as is learned from the story of Adam and Eve, who, in
order to atone for their sin, stood up to the neck in the water, fasting and
doing penance—Adam in the Jordan for forty days, Eve in the Tigris for
thirty-seven days (Vita Adæ et Evæ, i. 5–8). According to Pirḳe R. El. xx.,
Adam stood for forty-nine days up to his neck in the River Gihon. Likewise is
the passage, “They drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on
that day, and said, ‘We have sinned against the Lord’ ” (1 Sam. 7:6),
explained (see Targ. Yer. and Midrash Samuel, codem; also Yer. Ta‘anit ii. 7, 65d) as meaning that Israel poured out their hearts in repentance;
using the water as a symbol according to Lam. 2:19, “Pour out thine heart like
water before the Lord.” Of striking resemblance to the story Matt. 3:1–17 and
in Luke 3:3, 22, is the haggadic interpretation of Gen. 1:2 in Gen. R. ii. and
Tan., Buber’s Introduction, p. 153: “The spirit of God (hovering like a bird
with outstretched wings), manifested in the spirit of the Messiah, will come
[or “the Holy One, blessed be He! will spread His wings and bestow His grace”]
upon Israel,” owing to Israel’s repentance symbolized by the water in
accordance with Lam. 2:19.
To receive the spirit of God, or to be permitted to stand in the
presence of God (His Shekinah), man must undergo Baptism (Tan., Meẓora‘, 6, ed.
Buber, p. 46), wherefore in the Messianic time God will Himself pour water of
purification upon Israel in accordance with Ezek. 36:25 (Tan., Meẓora’, 9–17,
18, ed. Buber, pp. 43, 53). In order to pronounce the name of God in prayer in
perfect purity, the Essenes (צנועים)
underwent Baptism every morning (Tosef., Yad. ii. 20; Simon of Sens to Yad. iv.
9; and Ber. 22a; compare with Ḳid. 70a, “The Name must be guarded with
purity”). Philo frequently refers to these acts of purification in preparation
for the holy mysteries to be received by the initiated (“De Somniis,” xiv.; “De
Profugis,” vii.; “Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres Sit?” xviii, xxiii.; “Quod Deus
Sit Immutabilis.” ii.; “De Posteritate Caini,” xiv., xxviii.).
The Baptism of the proselyte has for its purpose his cleansing from
the impurity of idolatry, and the restoration to the purity of a new-born man.
This may be learned from the Talmud (Soṭah 12b) in regard to Pharaoh’s daughter, whose bathing in the Nile is
explained by Simon b. Yoḥai to have been for that purpose. The bathing in the
water is to constitute a rebirth, wherefore “the ger is like a child just born”
Yeb. 48b); and he must bathe “in the
name of God”—“leshem shamayim”—that is, assume the yoke of God’s kingdom
imposed upon him by the one who leads him to Baptism (“maṭbil”), or else he is
not admitted into Judaism (Gerim. vii. 8). For this very reason the Israelites
before the acceptance of the Law had, according to Philo on the Decalogue (“De
Decalogo,” ii., xi.), as well as according to rabbinical tradition, to undergo
the rite of baptismal purification (compare 1 Cor. 10:2, “They were baptized
unto Moses [the Law] in the clouds and in the sea”).
The real significance of the rite of Baptism can not be derived from
the Levitical law; but it appears to have had its origin in Babylonian or
ancient Semitic practise. As it was the special service administered by Elisha,
as prophetic disciple to Elijah his master, to “pour out water upon his hands”
(2 Kings 3:11), so did Elisha tell Naaman to bathe seven times in the Jordan,
in order to recover from his leprosy (2 Kings 5:10). The powers ascribed to the
waters of the Jordan are expressly stated to be that they restore the unclean
man to the original state of a new-born “little child.” This idea underlies the
prophetic hope of the fountain of purity, which is to cleanse Israel from the
spirit of impurity (Zech. 13:1; Ezek. 36:25; compare Isa. 4:4). Thus it is
expressed in unmistakable terms in the Mandean writings and teachings (Brandt,
“Mandäische Religion,” pp. 99 et seq.,
204 et seq.) that the living water in
which man bathes is to cause his regeneration. For this reason does the writer
of the fourth of the Sibylline Oracles, lines 160–166, appeal to the heathen
world, saying, “Ye miserable mortals, repent; wash in living streams your
entire frame with its burden of sin; lift to heaven your hands in prayer for
forgiveness and cure yourselves of impiety by fear of God!” This is what John
the Baptist preached to the sinners that gathered around him on the Jordan; and
herein lies the significance of the bath of every proselyte. He was to be made
“a new creature” (Gen. R. xxxix). For the term φωτισθεῖς (illuminated), compare Philo on
Repentance (“De Pœnitentia,” i.), “The proselyte comes from darkness to light.”
It is quite possible that, like the initiates in the Orphic mysteries, the
proselytes were, by way of symbolism, suddenly brought from darkness into
light. (S. Krauss, “Baptism,” in The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record
of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the
Earliest Times to the Present Day, ed. Isidore Singer, 12 vols. [New York:
Fung & Wagnalls, 1901-1906], 2:499-500)
